A few days ago, someone posted a link to ldswhy.com, explaining why Mormons do not have crosses on their buildings. In the paragraph explanation Gordon B. Hinckley, former president and prophet of the LDS church, states, "But for us [members of the LDS Church], the cross is the symbol of the dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the living Christ."
I don't agree with Hinckley's assessment that the cross is a symbol of the 'dying Christ.' I write this not in any way as an attack or to advocate that Mormons begin the practice of displaying crosses on their buildings. It really doesn't matter to me. What is more important to me is that Mormons, while completely capable of deciding what adorns their meeting halls and sanctuaries for themselves, learn what the cross means for other Christians. At least, what it means for this one and the many with whom he associates. I admit that I also write because I grew up in the LDS Church with a taught aversion to the cross, unaware of its importance in the early church and in Christian theology. My hope is to explain why the cross symbolizes the very same hope of life and resurrection that characterizes the salvific hope of Mormonism.
The Cross and Paul
Paul writes the Galatians partly to rebuke the Judaizers who dare to undermine the good news that Paul preached and to remind his audience of the means of salvation already provided through Jesus Christ. The Judaizers impose the requirement of circumcision (and other Jewish laws) on the Gentile converts. Paul writes forcefully to remind the Galatians that it is not the Mosaic law by which they are justified, but by the salvation in and only through Jesus Christ. Paul writes, "I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification [being made righteous before God] comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing (Gal. 2:21; see also 3:15-18; 5:1).
I'll cut to the chase by jumping to the end of Galatians, which is kind of comical to me: "See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand" (6:11)! Paul takes over as scribe and must write in all caps, so to speak, to really emphasize this last point. We can imagine then that Paul continues in his BIG letters to write the following:
It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised - only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh. May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Gal. 6:12-14, emphasis mine).
It is Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ who reminds his Galatian audience that the cross is something of which to boast. The relationship that Paul once had with the world no longer lives. This old relationship with the world died, and inherit to Paul's boasting of the cross is gratitude for the new relationship he (Paul) now has with the world. Something has changed dramatically because of Christ crucified on the cross in the mind and world paradigm of the apostle Paul.
As Christians (and I include Mormons in that category), this should give us a moment of contemplation on the importance of the cross in Christian theology.
The Cross: A Reversal of Power
But doesn't Paul know that the cross is a Roman tool of death? Yes, he knows better than we do that the cross is a form of Roman torture, death and power. Doesn't he know it is the tool used by the Romans to kill Jesus? Yes, he is aware of not only the purpose of the cross, but is also aware of how the Romans use the cross to maintain the Roman Empire's power. But for Paul, it is because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross that this symbol of Roman power no longer holds its fear-inducing control. There is a dramatic reversal of power in the cross of which Paul boasts, brought about because of the crucifixion of Christ. The cross no longer holds the power of fear which the Roman Empire used to manipulate and control the masses. For Paul to boast in the cross is to strip away the threat of death from the greatest Empire of the world and declare that it, the Roman Empire, was powerless. The Empire is usurped by God. God performed a reversal of power, bestowing on the weak the ability to overcome its oppressor; That which was deemed powerful (the Roman Empire) is humbled, and that which is humble (Jesus Christ) is exalted. In the case of the cross, that which is used by your enemies to inflict pain and to make you weak, to make you scared, to make you submissive to the power of the Empire, God uses to overcome and exalt. The cross becomes, at a very early stage in Christian history, a symbol of God's overpowerment of the powers of social and political control, not to mention God's overpowerment of sin and death.
Reversal of Power in the Old Testament
Here is one example in the Old Testament that illustrates this concept of reversal of power. Joseph was left in a pit by his own brothers to only be found and sold into slavery. From slavery he is wrongly accused and thrown in prison, only to later become a key advisor to none other than the Pharaoh. When his brothers discover that the one who they discarded so long ago is now alive and incredibly blessed, they fall at his feet and worship him as their master. Joseph replies, "'Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today'" (Gen. 50:20, emphasis mine). Joseph, the once discarded brother, is exalted by the mercy of God. What is considered weak is made to overcome the most despairing of odds. While Joseph's brothers intended the pit to cause harm, God intended it for good. Can you see a parallel in the cross?
Reversal of Power in the Teachings of Jesus
I make a giant leap now to Jesus who taught emphatically of this reversal of power. The Beatitudes, for example, are not spoken to middle class Americans. They are spoken to Jewish peasants - people riddled with plagues, malnutrition, short lifespans, a career of hard labor, and alienation from the rich and honorable. Yet, it is the peasant who are the blessed (Matt. 5:1-12). The blessed of God are not the upper class full of honor and prestige, financially successful and political power. In an act of reversal of power, Jesus declares the weak as blessed, the cursed as beloved.
One well known parable also illustrates this concept of the reversal of power. Known as 'The Good Samaritan' (Luke 10:29-37), Jesus responds to the inquiry of a lawyer asking, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus responds with the beloved parable: A man is beaten, robbed and left to die on the side of the road; a priest passes by and does not help the man; a Levite passes by and does not help the man; a Samaritan passes by and helps generously. "Which one of these three," asks Jesus, "do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" The audience is forced to say the unspeakable; it was the Samaritan who treated the half-dead man as a neighbor. Samaritans were half breeds and outcasts among the Jewish people. But now it is a Samaritan that sets the example in this parable of Jesus while the priests and Levites fail. In order for modern readers to understand the truly uncomfortable position the crowd is placed in when they must respond 'the Samaritan' we must imagine that we are a priest or a Levite listening to the words of Christ. We fail and those we despise act out the love of God. Can you see a parallel in the cross?
The Cross as Symbol of Life
Hinckley is quoted as presenting the cross as a symbol of the dying Christ. It is not a symbol of death unless one believes that Jesus was not resurrected. The cross symbolizes not the mere death of one more Messiah-want-a-be, but instead symbolizes the raising up of one that no other but God could raise. It is the triumph of God over what others thought to be the unconquerable. It is in his death that God overcomes the greatest ruler over the lives of all humanity - death and sin. Thus, the cross, known as the symbol of Roman strength and tool of death is used by God to exalt and bring life. The cross, in the hands of God, is a tool of restoration and resurrection.
It is a symbol of the living Christ.
While the LDS people may not feel like the cross should adorn their buildings, it is my hope that they can develop a personal testimony of its immense importance as a Christian symbol of the early church and its meaning for today. Yes, all denominations of Christianity proclaim Christ is risen, so please do not think that the cross represents the death of Christ alone. Symbols have multiple meanings, as garment-wearing Latter-Day Saints can attest. If you don't want a cross on your chapels, no big deal. I truly hope that the cross will nonetheless play an important part in understanding the wisdom of God as you seek to follow Christ. After all, you are Christians.
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God...For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength (1 Cor. 1:15,22-25).
Note: I was introduced to this concept of 'reversal of power' by reading Dominic Crossan's In Parables. It has proven to be a formidable text in shaping my understanding of Jesus' parables and I believe it extends to the Christian symbol of the cross.
Other Online resource: http://www.mormondialogue.org/topic/57551-byu-easter-conference-2012-reclaiming-the-cross/page__hl__cross__fromsearch__1.
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Really enjoied reading this Travis. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteTravis - Just wanted to say, again, you did a great job explaining the meaning of the Cross to Christians. I loved the read, and would agree and hope its symbolic message is one that LDS members may explore to understand, if for no other reason than to really understand what it truly means to the Christians around them.
ReplyDeleteYes, Travis, definitely a good read. Well covered. However, there seems to be the perception in the reading that there isn't significance in the cross to the general Latter-day Saint, or in its leadership, past and present. I was never taught an "aversion to the cross", rather a love for the Cross, in importance and majesty to his entire life. To put it in a not-so-perfect analogy in Higher Ed terms: Gethsemane is the Capstone course, Calvary is the Senior project, the Tomb is graduation, and his post-resurrection interactions are post doc work. I was also taught that the Empty Tomb was also just as important than the other locales and experiences in Gethsemane and Calvary. In fact, I was taught that Gethsemane without the Cross of Calvary would have been an incomplete Atonement. Thus, each is part of the Atonement as I know it. So, the great pilgrimage locations in my personal LDS Faith experience, in sybolism of the Lord's completed Atonement would be every place he walked, and experience he perfectly experienced, as well as the seminal locales (not an exhaustive list): the Manger of Bethleham, The River Jordan, the Mount of Olives, Gethsemane, Calvary/Golgotha, the Tomb of Arimathea, the Mount of Transfiguration. I would hope that ALL Christians would give importance to every place where Jesus Christ has performed various aspects of Atonement, generally and specifically, in their lives. I also have my personal Golgotha, my personal Gethsemane, my personal Cumorah, etc. I also know of MANY Christian churches who, like LDS church buildings, do not have symbolic crosses on the facade, steeple, or inside (although LDS buildings do have pictures of Jesus on the Cross, as well as have lessons and pictures of the Cross in the curriculum and literature). I have been in Indiana (a VERY Christian state), looking at buildings to convert into a charter school. We looked at a non-denominational church building that had no crosses. I was actually surprised by that. I remember looking for them particularly because I knew they would have to be taken down to turn the building into Public School usable. I remember thinking that I wouldn't need to do any conversion in that regard. The absence or evidence of a physical cross does not indicate one's personal testimony of Jesus the Christ, just like Patriotism is not indicated by wearing a flag lapel pin, etc. Rather, the question should be whether we have branded the Atonement in our hearts, have had a "mighty change of heart", taken upon ourselves his name, where others can see His image in our countenance, and that we can "feel so now" (Alma 5; BOM)
ReplyDeleteIn fairness, maybe there should be a more full review of Hinckley's view of the Cross in literature, as well as a fair review of why in some Christian faiths the events at Gethsemane and the Empty Tomb seem to be shortchanged in the dogma and the Christian conversation of the church leaders.
Thanks Alen, Yeah, the aversion to the cross is best characterized by the common LDS explanation to why LDS don't have crosses/wear crosses; would you wear a gun if a loved one was shot to death? (I wouldn't, but considering the memorials I see on the back windows of cars for dead loved ones, I imagine there are people that would). Meredith did a good job exemplifying this on her facebook response to this post. I feel like the aversion to the cross stems from a misunderstanding of what the cross means for Christians as a religious symbol, as evidenced by Hinckley's quote, so thus the current post as hopefully respectful response.
DeleteI totally agree with you about the importance of the Atonement printed on our heart. But it just concerns me that Hinckley, the voice of the LDS church, looks on the cross as nothing more than a symbol of the dying Christ. It really means more than that for you and for the Christian world at large. Hinckley's statement is as if I say that garments are nothing more than fancy underwear. I reduce an important religious symbol of the LDS people to something less than what it means for the LDS people. Reducing religous symbos to something they're not for the people that use them as an expression of their faith, misses the mark and creates misunderstandings.
I don't think that Gethsemane and the Empty Tomb are short changed in Christian theology. Christians simply believe differently about Gethsemane and so think of it differently, thus giving it a different weight. And short changing the empty tomb is like saying Christians don't celebrate Easter. Come on! It's one of the two Sundays they actually come to church for! :) I believe that the empty tomb is of most importance, which is the very reason the cross is so important for Christians as a symbol. It symbolizes the suffering, death and resurrection (empty tomb) of Christ, and manifests the reversal of power in the world performed by God. Without the empty tomb, there is no resurrection, and thus the cross as a religious symbol has no meaning. So the cross can function as a religiious symbol that encapsulates all of Christs actions, as they were all part of God overcoming the world in Christ. I hope that this statement comes across as more of an affirmation of your remarks than as a critique. In this medium of blogging I am learning that it's easier to communicate disagreement than agreement, and I mean to agree with you more than disagree.
I agree, a fuller review of Hinckley's perspective of the cross is worth exploring. The sound bite in the ldswhy.com may not do him credit.
I appreciate your awareness of all of Christ's life as valuable to remember. Surely, if we are to meditate on our religious symbols, they should embody for us the whole of the incarnation.
On that note, I imagine that the cross most likely has a predominate place in the theology of the Book of Mormon and maybe we're - both LDS and non-LDS - not giving the cross its space within our understanding of LDS theology. Just a thought.